b'Stewardship Means Doing Your Bestfor the Environment Around You Experts taught the difference between stewardship and sustainability.Alex MartinOVER THE LASTfew years in the U.S., seed treatments have been placed under a microscope when it comes to regulatory discussions and news media discussions. Legislation has popped up in various states seeking different levels of seed treatment bans, which would remove a tool from grower customers toolboxes. Hows the industry responding? With a renewed effort in seed treatment stewardship. When I think about stewardship, I consider it to be a compo-nent of sustainability, says Justine Taylor, director of sustainabil-ity and stewardship with CropLife Canada. Its about ensuring and demonstrating our collective actions are having a minimalMatt Lewis. Justine Taylor.impact on both people and the planetits more practice based and more prescriptive.Through partnerships with growers, retailers and industry associations, seed companies are continuously working to edu-cate those who handle treated seed about the importance ofWant to watch the full conversation with Justine and Matt?following the proper steps for stewardship throughout the entireCatch up at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TxaGzvzfbwlife cycle of the seed.The good news is, were always working at trying to keepMaintaining equipment on a regular basis, updating emer-this top-of-mind with members and other various stakeholdersgency response plants and even simple things like your monthly throughout the industry stream, says Matt Lewis, chair of thefire extinguisher check are all important, she says. Once people American Seed Trade Associations (ASTA) Seed Treatment andare finished with the audit, those items tend to fall by the wayside Environment Committee and UPLs U.S. strategic accounts lead.which is just human nature. I encourage operators to think about Seed companies have always done a good job of telling thehow they can incorporate those activities into their work plan. story about the importance of seed treatment stewardship. On the farm level, following instructions is imperative for In terms of ASTA, the association continues to push for edu- stewardship.cation, as education is one of the sure-fire ways to ensure seedWhenever you buy a bag that has seed with a treatment on treatments are used correctly.it, it comes with a tag or label with instructions on how to use Seed treatment is one of the most efficient ways of applyingit, store it and dispose of it, says Lewis. If we follow that, were a pesticide, he says. Were putting milligrams of active ingredi- really doing our best job we can do. Lately, one of the things that ent on an individual seed versus pounds of pesticide on an acre. has popped up in the news is seed spills. We want to make sure Making sure youre following accreditation programs as athat if any seed spills on the ground, you get it cleaned up or seed treatment operator and applicator helps enhance safeburied so its not accessible to wildlife. applications as well. CropLife Canada delivers a seed treatmentThough following SOPs and labels seems like it would be stewardship program in Canada that focuses on the safe appli- easy, both organizations noted that constant education and cation of seed treatment products. Ensuring containment is inupdates on the seed treatment stewardship front is important. place, proper fire separation and ventilation requirements areWhen we talk about stewardship, I like to think about what met and signage is in place, are all important in your setting upthe alternatives are, Lewis says. These seed treatments bring your application sites. In addition, ensuring protective equipmentyield and crop protection at a fairly low cost. If you think about is available, appropriate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)the environment, if we had to go back to using some older are in place and ensuring employees have the correct training forclasses of chemistry that are soil applied, they are less selective seed treatment application is part of a robust health and safetyand less efficacious in many cases. Its all about that freedom to plan and also a critical component ofstewardship. operate and make sure were doing the pieces we need to do to Taylors advice? Focus on activities related to ongoing tasks. be able to continue using these important tools.SW6/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2022'